


All the Broken Boxes

by Namesake



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergent, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Kissing, Lena Luthor Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, Lena Luthor knows EVERYONE'S identities, Mental Anguish, Nia saves the day, Psychological Trauma, a taste of evil!Brainy, because I'm sappy like that, honestly it'd be exhausting otherwise, love saves the day, once again I hurt these characters way too much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 05:06:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19311220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Namesake/pseuds/Namesake
Summary: What if Brainy hadn't been able to fight his ancestor's influence? What if, instead, he'd only slipped further away?It's fortunate, then, that he has a family outside of his ancestry that is willing to do anything to help find himself again.





	All the Broken Boxes

**Author's Note:**

> Hi again, everyone! It's time for yet another Brainia project!
> 
> This one took a substantial amount of time to get onto paper, but I'm quite happy with the outcome. I would like to state for the record that I was in no way dissatisfied with the fact that Brainy was snapped out of his ancestor's influence in less than an episode. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed Brainy finding himself through his care for Nia's safety and, of course, his love for her.
> 
> HOW-EV-ER, it is my job as a writer to explore the things that never were. I wanted to write a different perspective on what it truly meant for Brainy to lose his connection to his emotions and also question, in a way, if that meant the Brainy we saw was even the same person at all. Also, as much as I respected the decision not to send Brainy over the edge where his ancestors were concerned and turn him into anything truly dark, I also really, really wanted to see how something like that might go. I'm also pretty certain a lot of you would very much like to see that too. 
> 
> This was a bit of an experiment with what I could do with Brainy's character in those regards. I might play around with it more at a later date, but I do hope you enjoy this story in the meantime! 
> 
> Side note: Would anyone be interested in a series of very short fics that are just fluffy Brainia moments? I have a lot of ideas listed on a word document that have nowhere to go and I guess it would be nice to have something that can just be updated as and when I have the time with some cute little stories. If you guys want it, lemme know!
> 
> As always, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated! :)

“How do we fix this?”

Nia felt hollow. She hugged her arms against her chest, trying to remain straight faced as she stared unblinkingly into the make-shift cell Lena had put together in L-Corp’s basement facility.

No one answered her question.

Brainy sat, arms cuffed, in a chair on the other side of the energy field the cell had instead of walls. It was stronger than any material, Lena had assured them, completely impenetrable. Nia hadn’t felt safer knowing that, she wasn’t sure why she _should._ She’d never considered for a second that she’d ever look at Brainy and see a stranger. A person to be feared. And yet…

She wasn’t afraid of him. This was _Brainy._ He was funny if not blunt, nerdy, smart and, above else, he was _good._ He was a hero. Just like the rest of them. She didn’t care that – right now – there was nothing behind his eyes. No impression of emotion, of memory, of _himself._ She could ignore that, because there had to be a way to fix him. To get her Brainy _back._

There _had_ to be.

“Guys?” Nia asked, forcing her voice not to break. “Say something. Please.”

Alex took a harsh breath, her eyes darted across the room, falling to Lena. “Have you put his powers into consideration?”

Lena’s expression was muted, her posture a little too stiff. She had a tablet in her arms that she was checking every two minutes like clockwork. “If you mean, did I account for his ability to hack into computer interfaces, then, yes, I did. What do you think those cuffs are for?” Her lips thinned into a tight line. “He can’t get out.”

Alex let out a shaky sigh. “How did this happen?”

Sick of being ignored, Nia cleared her throat. “It was the warehouse. They did something to him when we were captured.”

“You saw it?” Lena asked.

Nia’s throat closed up. She shook her head. “N-no, I didn’t. We were separated.”

Nia couldn’t help but feel guilty. If they’d just listened to J’onn, forgone the _Wookiee Gambit_ and waited for him to circle back, none of this would have happened. They would have found another way to infiltrate the portal and break the aliens free. One that hadn’t involved Brainy _changing_ like this.

Nia had hoped he might come around on his own - thought that, maybe, he’d put himself on some sort of timer so he could get the job done without emotions getting in the way. Even still, she’d _never_ thought he’d stoop as low as to do something like that to himself, especially after everything they’d been through, but it was the only thing she could think of that meant he’d be okay in the end. That he’d come back to her.

But that hadn’t happened and, when confronted by his family, Brainy had only tried to shut down their worries. When that hadn’t worked, he’d made to leave.

But they’d known that something was wrong, just as much as they’d known that they couldn’t let Brainy out of their sight. Not when he was thinking like this, with a dangerous kind of logic that didn’t put the safety of others into consideration. It was a cold, calculating mentality. One that Nia had never seen in Brainy before. He cared so _much_ about things, even if he didn’t always show it. She’d never thought he would be capable of doing anything cruel.

But abandoning them like that? Not even sharing the plan with them beforehand? That wasn’t Brainy. That could _never_ be Brainy.

And _no one_ was talking again!

“I should have known,” J’onn said lowly. Nia jumped; she hadn’t realised that he’d returned.

It had taken the combined efforts of Nia, J’onn and Kara to incapacitate Brainy enough to get him down here. He’d fought like nothing Nia had seen before, completely unperturbed with the possibility of harming any one of them. J’onn had disappeared after helping lock Brainy in his cell. He’d looked… stricken, and Nia wondered whether he’d tried to look inside of Brainy’s mind for a better insight.

She desperately wanted to know what was going on in there. Because whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

“J’onn,” Alex said, reaching out for him. “What do you mean?”

“Something was off since the warehouse,” J’onn said, shrugging away Alex’s hand. “I couldn’t feel anything from him, it was like he had completely shut me out. I thought that he was just trying to focus, to keep his mind elsewhere, but if nothing else, the way he took down his captors should have clued me in.”

Nia flinched. What J’onn had described of the incapacitated guards had not been pretty.

“It’s not your fault,” Nia said, looking towards J’onn.

“No, it’s not,” a new voice cut in. One with a significantly lower register to that which Nia was used to hearing. An almost dead monotone. “It is yours, Dreamer.”

Alex jerked her head towards Lena. “I thought you said those walls were soundproof?”

Lena’s fingers were already a blur against her tablet. “They _should_ be,” she said tightly. “There’s a speaker mechanism for communication. It’s been activated somehow.”

Brainy’s gaze, half lidded and entirely unperturbed, moved towards Lena. He cocked his head to one side. “You accounted for the intelligence that I have displayed in the past, not for that which I am capable of now.” His lip twitched minutely. “A mistake you would not have made had you not been weighted down by your many personal and emotional dilemmas.” His gaze was unwavering, and Nia could have sworn that for just a second, something dangerous flashed behind them. “Little boxes, Lena Luthor.”

Lena’s lips twisted ruefully as she glanced upwards, her gaze unwavering as she met Brainy’s. “He only has access to the speakers,” she said, refusing to break eye contact. “Those cuffs won’t let him access the energy field’s network, the system running them is on the outside. He can only hack into technology on his side of the barrier.” Her smile was sharp. “He actually thought that might scare me. How cute.”

Nia didn’t say a word. Despite Lena’s cold confidence and Alex’s determined nature, Nia couldn’t keep her gut from twisting. He’d spoken to her directly. _Blamed_ her.

Which was… good. That was good. If he had the capacity for blame, he had the capacity for emotion as well. She could use that. Oh, she was _definitely_ going to use that.

“What do you mean?” Nia asked, taking a step forward. “That it’s my fault?”

“Nia,” Alex warned.

“It’s fine,” Nia said. “I want him to answer me.”

Brainy’s eyes tracked her movements. “Nia Nal,” he said. Usually, Nia felt it kind of endearing when Brainy used her full name like that. Now, though? There was no kindness in his voice, no care.

“That’s my name,” Nia said darkly, folding her arms. “Don’t wear it out.”

Brainy lifted his chin. “You are the girl your Brainy loved so very much.” His eyes narrowed quizzically. “Did he ever tell you that? A disappointingly sentimental statement. Love.” He glanced away. “He was captured because of you. Because of his feelings.” He looked back at her, genuinely curious. “You shared similar feelings for him. How must you feel now? Does it hurt?”

“Don’t listen to him,” Lena said sharply.

“It’s alright,” Nia said stiffly. “Nothing he says matters to me. That’s not- that’s _not_ Brainy.”

Brainy perked up at that. His eyes lit up with the closest Nia had seen to any emotion. “Is that what you think?” he asked. “What you _all_ think? What do you really know of the Coluan species?” He jerked his head towards J’onn. “The Martian has the most insight in the room and even he is despairingly… ill-informed.” His lips thinned, twitching at the corners. “I am an amalgamation of my ancestor’s thoughts and memories. Flesh and blood is so… _biological._ I have their minds, harnessed to my own will. I could be so. Much. **More.** ”

Nia stumbled back a step. Brainy’s voice had turned sharply in pitch, a mechanical undertone pervaded his words, making him sound as close to inhuman as Nia had ever heard him. It was jarring - to see Brainy with his image inducer still running and yet hearing the voice of his people beneath.

And then, just as quickly as it happened, the darkness festering behind Brainy’s eyes lifted. They glazed over as his posture shifted. He appeared just as monotonous as he had moments before.

He cleared his throat. “However, logic dictates that being your enemy is… poor judgement. I helped you free those aliens. It was a good deed, was it not?”

Nia’s hands stiffened at her sides. “You abandoned us there,” she said. “Me and J’onn, you left us there without knowing whether your plan would work.”

“But it did,” Brainy said, that same curious lilt present in his voice. “Are you not happy with that outcome?”

“How can I be?” Nia shot back. “You’re clearly not.”

Alex whistled lowly from behind her. “Nia,” she said carefully. “Maybe we should let him stew in here a while, regroup upstairs and try to figure this out?”

“If the problem is with his cybernetic half, I should be able to run diagnostics on the implants in his brain,” Lena cut in, tapping rhythmically against her tablet. “It might help us figure out how to reverse this.”

Despite the coolness of her voice, Lena wasn’t fooling anyone. Nia could see the strain in her expression, and the restless way she held herself. Lena and Brainy were close, and he had only ever spoken to Nia about her in the highest regard. They shared a similar mindset, a scientific nature, it was something Nia couldn’t really say about herself, but she was glad that Brainy had someone to discuss those interests with who could actually respond with a well-informed rebuttal.

No one in the room was happy to see Brainy like this. Nia suddenly felt rather selfish for taking front and centre, but at the same time, she couldn’t bring herself to leave.

“Perhaps it would be beneficial to have someone keep an eye on him,” J’onn said suddenly. “We don’t yet know what Brainy could be capable of like this.”

Brainy didn’t say a word, but there was an unsettling sense glittering at the backs of his eyes. One that Nia was finding hard to ignore.

“Good idea,” Nia said, folding her arms. “I’ll take first shift.”

Nia thought Alex might dispute her, but a moment later she felt her presence at her side. Alex placed a hand on her shoulder, slipping a comm device into Nia’s palm. “If you need anything, call us.”

Nia gripped the device solidly in her hand. She nodded.

Alex sighed. “Be careful.”

“She will be,” Lena said, and the look on her face resonated with Nia in a way that she hadn’t expected. She supposed, out of everyone, Lena had the most experience when it came to caring for someone who may not warrant that attention. Right now, Brainy was in no state to care for anyone, but that didn’t mean Nia wasn’t going to do her utmost to reach through to him.

And, in Lena’s eyes, Nia thought she could see a certainty that that was exactly what she would accomplish.

“Good luck,” Lena murmured on her way out. She shot a look in Brainy’s direction, but didn’t say anything to follow suit. Nia figured that was probably for the best.

 

* * *

 

Nia waited until she was truly alone before she took a step closer to the energy wall. She could see at least three different camera feeds watching her every move, and she knew that Brainy would be able to sense them as well. He’d probably mapped them out the second he’d been thrown into this cell. Still, she felt more in control of herself without the physical presence of her friends surrounding her.

“Tell me what happened at the warehouse,” she said, trying to match Brainy’s cold delivery.

Brainy stared at her. He didn’t say a word.

“Come on,” Nia said. “You’re – what – the unfeeling part of Brainy, right? There’s a reason for that. Tell me what happened.”

Brainy tilted his head. “I can tell you,” he said simply. “However, it will not solve anything and provides no logical conclusion to the answers you desire.”

“Entertain me.”

“Very well,” Brainy said. He shifted slightly in his chair, but his gaze didn’t move an inch. “The Brainy you are familiar with was tortured. He was cuffed to a device that sent out electronic pulses that severely affected his cognitive functions. However, there was also an emotional aspect to his torture.” His eyes narrowed slightly, but more out of sincere confusion than anything else. “They threatened to harm you.”

Nia’s heart clenched tight in her chest. Her mouth was suddenly very dry. “What do you mean?”

Brainy continued, unperturbed by the sudden change in her demeanour, “He faired very well until you were mentioned, and then all his defences crumbled. Mental defences, things we had stockpiled for a very long time. Brainy was faced with two options, allow all defences to fall and be faced with the true wrath of his ancestors, or quickly and effectively create a new box. Something that could not discern one emotion from another. The only thing that could work. He created me.”

Nia stared. “But you are him.”

“I am,” Brainy conceded. “But I am also a neutral zone, created to defend the host body from succumbing to the influences of ancestral memory.”

“You say that like I’m supposed to know what that means.”

Brainy’s eyes narrowed again. “He never told you,” he said slowly, thoughtfully.

Nia’s hands clenched. She truly believed Brainy had no idea how infuriating he was acting, but that didn’t make it any easier for her to endure. She gritted her teeth. “Told me what?”

Brainy watched her for a moment. “A Coluan shares a collective memory bank, a hivemind that stores the memories of every ancestor to have lived and died in a clan’s bloodline. Brainiac-Five elected to cut himself from those specific mental pathways when he realised they were leading him down a road not unlike his ancestors. He instead elected to store them in a box. A mental projection. However, boxes can be opened, and when he was emotionally and physically compromised, those boxes were reduced to ash.” Brainy paused, for the first time, his gaze flickered. “I am not your enemy, Nia. I am the only thing keeping Brainy’s mind stable.”

For a moment, all Nia could do was stare. Brainy had never told her about this before. She couldn’t say she hadn’t thought about it - having a mind that could match a supercomputer must come with all sorts of perks. But also, downsides. Negative impacts. Nia knew Brainy was only telling all of this to her now because he had no emotional ties to his explanation. He wasn’t afraid of his words, of his confession.

Nia quickly sobered, because although this information felt like a punch in the chest, she couldn’t let that stop her. “You might say that,” Nia said slowly, “but you’re not on our side the way you are now. You don’t _have_ a side.”

“I believe in a good cause.”

Nia smiled bitterly. “That’s not good enough. You can believe in something, but that doesn’t mean you’re emotionally available to it.” She gestured behind herself. “You would have let those aliens die because you couldn’t see an alternative that involved something that went against your stupid probability! Emotions are a good thing, Brainy. They aren’t just human, they’re what make us people. Without that you’re just- you’re just a _robot_.”

Brainy’s expression was blank. “I am half organic.”

Nia laughed. She couldn’t help herself. “You _see?_ ” she demanded. “You’re not getting my point! The Brainy _I_ know, that I-” she cut herself off. She couldn’t say it to him now, not in this state. She faltered. “H-he would have been hurt by that, because he doesn’t like it when people expect his mind to just work like a computer’s. Brainy is full of emotion, he’s emphatic and passionate and he _believes_ in good people, not just a cause. You can’t say that for yourself because right now… you’re just… the _worst_ parts of him!”

Brainy squinted at her. “That is incorrect. I am not the worst parts of him. If I were to deconstruct the barriers in his mind, then you would know that for yourself. But I will not. Because I understand that would not be _good._ ”

And there it was. An inkling of agitation. It wasn’t much of an emotion, but it was a start. Not quite the dangerous undertone she’d heard in his voice earlier - this was something more. A small murmur of humanity. Nia tried not to show anything in her expression. Instead she said, “This isn’t good, either, Brainy. I get you think you’re protecting yourself, but that’s why you have friends, _family_. Whatever you think you’re hiding from, we can help you.”

The second she’d said that word – _family –_ the backs of Brainy’s eyes darkened like shutters coming to a violent close. His voice was stoic again. “It will not work.”

“It will,” Nia said, nodding. “Even if you can’t get back to yourself on your own, we’ll find a way.” She was dazed, mentally exhausted from throwing every argument she could think against this thinly veiled electronic field. And so, she sat on the floor, crossing her legs. “Either way, I’m not leaving your side ‘til you’re back with us.”

Brainy’s returning stare was just as blank as any one before it. “You will make no difference.”

“Oh yeah,” Nia said, chest clenching, “well, guess what? This time, I don’t care.”

 

* * *

 

The energy field wasn’t a clear image all the time. At least, Nia thought that was the case. Maybe she’d just been staring at it for too long.

She didn’t have a watch. She was sure there were clocks in the room that she couldn’t see, but she’d been sat down for so damned long that she was almost certain her legs would betray her should she try and stand. And so, she continued to stare.

Brainy’s eyes had been closed now for what Nia presumed was about an hour. She didn’t think that he was asleep – his posture was far too straight for one thing. Maybe Coluans could sleep like that, but Nia didn’t buy it. Brainy might have been in some kind of meditative state, but she was more inclined to believe that whatever he was doing, he was only doing it to avoid speaking to her.

Her lips twitched. It was typical, really. Even without emotions, Brainy was the king of avoidance. She could say something, try to snap him out of it, but his last words still resonated with her.

_You will make no difference._

His voice had been like lead. A dead, uncaring tone that had sliced into her like ice. He hadn’t cared that she was trying to help him, hadn’t had the capacity to even understand why he might need help.

He was being an idiot if he thought this version of himself was a form of protection. It was a disguise, but even when she’d spoken to him, she knew that it only went as deep as a projected image, just like his inducer could output. It looked real on the surface, but the illusion could be easily broken.

Did she want to break Brainy? No. But this wasn’t healthy for him. She couldn’t let him hide forever.

“Nia?”

Nia nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned to see Alex and Kara stood next to her. Kara had blankets bundled in her arms, and Alex had a cup of something steaming in her hands that she hoped to _god_ was coffee.

“Hey guys,” Nia said softly. Was there a point to keeping her voice low? She was certain Brainy could hear everything they were saying regardless.

Alex knelt down on the floor, handing Nia the mug. Nia closed her eyes. _Yes,_ it was coffee. Black. Exactly what she needed.

She blew on it tentatively, taking a sip. “How’s it going upstairs?”

“It’s going,” Alex said. She and Kara shared a look before they both sat on the floor, either side of Nia.

Kara draped a blanket over Nia’s legs and, without having to communicate, they each took a section of it, sharing it between the three of them.

“We heard what Brainy said,” Kara said quietly. “And what you said to him.”

“Yeah?” Nia asked, taking another sip.

Kara wound her arm around Nia. “And it was really brave, Nia.” Her brow furrowed. “Although, what he said about the warehouse. Rao, if I’d known…”

“We didn’t know,” Alex said firmly. “And it’s awful, but we have to think about what we can do now for him, to get him back to us.”

Nia stared into the dark pit of her coffee. “Has Lena figured anything out?”

Kara snorted. “She’s not stopped working since she got upstairs. I have to practically spoon feed her.” She tilted her head. “Her diet right now consists of Big Belly Burger and about a decanter and a half’s worth of scotch.”

Alex rolled her eyes. “I wish I could say she was joking, but…”

Nia closed her eyes. “But has she found anything?”

Nia could practically feel the tension in the air.

Alex sighed. “What we have right now lines up with what Brainy has told you already. Lena discovered that there are certain neural pathways that have been closed off, and the section of his brain that most closely resembles a human’s hypothalamus is being starved, somehow, but it’s not really clear as to why. The cybernetic implants in his brain are a thousand years ahead of modern technology. _More_ advanced, even, considering Colu is ahead of Earth by god knows how long.”

“If anyone can figure it out, it’s Lena,” Kara said defensively. She frowned. “But she’s struggling.”

“One thing’s for sure though,” Alex added. “The reason he’s closed himself off like this has to be due to emotional trauma. I showed Kelly the footage of what Brainy said, how he was acting. She thinks that it resembles something close to DID. Essentially, he’s created a version of himself that doesn’t feel connected to his trauma.”

Nia could feel the hole that had slowly been eating its way through her chest crumble further inwards. Nothing they were telling her was surprising, which made it all the worse. If there was _something_ they could do to help him, to assure him that he would be okay…

“You heard about the ancestral memory part, right?” Nia asked suddenly.

Alex nodded. “Yeah.”

“Could Lena see that inside his head?”

Kara glanced at her sister. Alex’s shoulders slumped. “In a manner of speaking? I… I’ve been studying the x-rays of Brainy’s brain and it’s insanely complex. Most of it goes beyond my understanding, but what I can say is that his brain would be more than capable of storing memories like a machine would. If he could hold echoes of them, somehow, parts of their consciousness… let’s just say I can kinda see why he might have thought shutting down like this was the safest option.”

“But he can’t just stay like this,” Nia said.

“No,” Kara said. “He won’t.”

“Even if we did find a way of snapping him out of this physically,” Alex said carefully, “it wouldn’t fix him. There has to be a balance. Whatever he’s so afraid of releasing, we can’t just ignore that. We’ve met one of his ancestors before, and she was insanely difficult to match. If that was just _one…_ ”

Nia shuddered. “I get it.”

“We’ll figure this out,” Kara said. “We always do.”

“Yeah,” Nia said quietly. Brainy hadn’t moved a muscle in his chair. His back was so straight, his head at the perfect angle, his fingers spread calmly outwards. This wasn’t her Brainy, and she had no idea how to get him to come back. “…Yeah.”

 

* * *

 

Brainy remained unresponsive well into the night. Nia was starting to doubt her theory that he wasn’t just asleep, but his posture hadn’t changed since he’d closed his eyes. She supposed disposing of your emotions also nullified any chance of getting bored. And, even if he was uncomfortable, he wouldn’t have a need to express it.

 _Was_ he uncomfortable?

Nia tried to match Brainy’s resilience by drinking her weight in black coffee. Kara and Alex came and went, flitting back and forth between Lena’s office and the basement. No one went home.

J’onn appeared every once in a while. It was clear from his expression that he was trying to get a read on Brainy’s mind, to understand if there was a way of snapping him out of this.

Nia figured there wasn’t. The last time she’d seen him had been nearly an hour ago.

Nia didn’t know how much time had passed when she saw it. A flicker of something, the tiniest movement as Brainy repositioned his head. She blinked, worried whether she had imagined it, but then it happened again. A close to imperceptible gesture. But Nia saw it; she’d been waiting for far too long at this point to miss anything.

The elevator to the basement facility dinged and Nia’s chest tightened. That couldn’t be a coincidence. She gave Brainy a once-over, narrowing her eyes. Maybe he could sense her watching, maybe he couldn’t, but he’d definitely known that company was coming.

The click-clack of heels on tile was the tell-tale sign that Lena was on route. J’onn was with her. Kara and Alex, who had been conferring quietly in the corner, perked up at the entrance. Nia’s heart stuttered.

“Lena,” Nia said, forcing herself onto unsteady legs. “What’s happened?”

Lena nodded at Nia curtly, her gaze wandering towards Brainy’s cell. Her eyebrow quirked curiously at the way he was sat, and Nia wondered if she’d noticed the shift as well. Lena looked back at her.

“I’ll be honest, this is one of the harder problems I’ve faced,” Lena said. “Brainy’s mind is augmented, a mechanical and biological masterpiece and fixing something that isn’t technically broken is…” she drew off. “There’s… one thing we could do. Something I proposed to Alex earlier.”

Alex’s expression fell. “Lena-”

“We could use a current,” Lena said sharply. “I hypothesised that the Children of Liberty likely used a certain frequency during their torture that caused Brainy to shut down like this. If we could recreate that same electric current… we might be able to force another reboot if a shock was again applied to his brain. It could work.”

Nia’s heart was in her throat, her hands clenched tight. “No way,” she said.

“We can’t,” Kara agreed. “Lena, we’d be just as bad as Lex. We’d be _worse…_ to do something like that to Brainy. It’d be-”

“Torture,” Lena said darkly. “Yes, I know. I… alone, I couldn’t think of anything better. Biologically and mechanically speaking, there’s nothing wrong with him. I can’t go any deeper than that; beyond that _isn’t_ my field of expertise.” She jerked her chin towards J’onn. “Which is why I consulted with a telepath.”

“J’onn?” Nia asked, hearing Alex echo her across the room.

J’onn sighed, stepping forward. “Forcing Brainy to reconnect with his emotions would be incredibly dangerous. Not only that, it would only have a fraction of a chance at succeeding and, even if it did, we would more than likely leave permanent mental damage.”

Nia flinched, she couldn’t help herself.

J’onn’s eyes were kind, if not troubled. “Brainy’s species have internal systems designed for complete and total control over their functions. To try and alter what the Children of Liberty did to him would only further the damage. We can’t force him to do anything, we need to give him a reason to find himself on his own.”

Nia frowned. “So… you mean, like an intervention?”

J’onn smiled sadly. “For all intents and purposes? Yes, exactly that.”

“Well, then, what are we waiting for, an invitation?” Lena asked, folding her arms. She walked precisely over to Brainy’s cell, stopping shy of three steps from the invisible barrier.

She studied Brainy for a moment before clearing her throat. “You can cut the act,” she said lowly. “We know you’ve been listening.”

Nia’s chest tightened when Brainy opened his eyes. He regarded Lena with a bored expression. “That would require an interest in anything you might have said.” He tilted his head forward. “None of it was very enlightening.”

“Come on, Brainy,” Alex said. “Surely there’s a part of you that knows this is wrong.”

Kara walked forward, joining Lena. “You’re not doing yourself any favours by shutting out your emotions.”

Brainy only stared. “Repetition of the same actions expecting different results. Is that not the definition for insanity?”

Nia’s jaw clenched. Even with his lack of emotions, Brainy still had something of a bitter sarcasm that could twist his words. Despite the deadened delivery, it managed to carry in a way that hinted at something more than that. Nia just wasn’t sure exactly what _that_ was.

“Brainy,” J’onn said. “I am so sorry I didn’t notice sooner, but I do now. We can understand the suffering you were put through at the hands of those _monsters._ You may have blocked me out, but I can still sense it from you. Please, let us in. Allow us to help you.”

“Brainy,” Alex said softly. “Please. We’re you’re family.”

Brainy swallowed thickly. “There is nothing you could do.”

Nia heard it. The smallest tremor at the back of his voice, betraying his security. She thought the others could as well, but maybe they hadn’t realised the exact trigger, because no one knew what to say next. To keep him in this moment of confusion.

Nia was walking forward before she realised her legs were carrying her. She found herself next to Lena and Kara, with J’onn and Alex not far behind.

“You can’t hide behind your boxes forever,” Lena said sharply. “Speaking from someone with experience, it doesn’t work. Maybe for a moment, maybe when you think you need a clear head for a few hours out of a day, but boxes are flawed. They should not be your only line of defence.”

“That’s what family is for,” Kara said, gesturing to Alex, to everyone. “Brainy, we are here for you. To _help_ you. We help fix each other, to protect each other. If you’re in pain, well, so are we.”

Brainy made a derisive sound, but it was choked slightly, like he was holding something back. Nia’s eyes narrowed.

“Kara,” she said suddenly. “Where’s Brainy’s ring?”

Kara frowned at her. “Upstairs.” Understanding lit in her eyes. “Hold on a sec.”

And it really was a second. Nia’s hair blew behind her shoulders and in the time it took for her to straighten it, another gust hit her with matched gusto. Kara stood in front of her, Brainy’s Legion ring outstretched in her hand.

Nia took it, sliding it across the chain it had been attached to. She swung it back and forth with a meditative practice. Then, she looked up at Brainy.

She hadn’t really said anything much to contribute to this intervention. Her tongue had felt thick in her mouth and no words that came to mind felt _right_ to say out loud. There was so much she wanted to tell Brainy, _too_ much, but half of it would be wrong to admit to him in this state. She needed him back first.

So instead, she continued to swing the ring, watching Brainy with interest. There was a tension in his body that hadn’t been there before, and she could see that, despite his efforts, his dark eyes flickered every time the ring swung across his line of vision.

“The Brainy I know would never take this off,” Nia said softly. She glanced down at the Legion ring, a vague blur between her fingers. “It was valuable to him.”

Brainy’s eyes darkened. “Nth metal is worth a great deal.”

“I meant sentimental.”

“I have no use for sentimentality.”

“Really?” Nia asked innocently. “So, this ring means nothing to you?”

Brainy’s lip curled. “Nothing.”

“Then why did you keep it?” she implored. “When you were captured. _Tortured.”_ Brainy flinched at that, and Nia had to try very hard to ignore the way her heart ached knowing she’d caused it. “You took this from your captors. Why?”

Brainy’s eyes were wider, his posture lacking. He was leant forward in his restraints, his breathing faster than it had been before. “I…”

“You’re lucky,” Nia said thoughtfully. “You don’t just have one family. You had one in the thirty-first century, too. Not your ancestors. Blood, clan, memory, none of that means anything if you can’t think of a moment in your life where they made you happy. Sometimes, not even then.” She paused meaningfully, looking Brainy in the eyes. “But the Legion? They were like a family to you, weren’t they? Imra and Mon-El and…” she smiled, “Val and… Nura, too, right?”

Brainy sucked in a breath. A tremble ran through him. “Stop.”

But Nia wasn’t going to stop. Because she could see the emotions burning behind Brainy’s eyes, stewing inside, begging for a release. “They were your family. I bet it hurt a lot when you had to leave them. But then you found us. And we love you just as much and…” Her heart clenched. She couldn’t say it. No, she _shouldn’t_ say it to him. Not here. Not _now._ And yet…

“Nia,” Brainy said, his voice cracking. Tears glimmered in his eyes, threatening to spill. “Please. _Stop._ ”

Nia drew in a breath, letting the ring fall still on its chain. “And… _I_ love you.”

Brainy screamed. It was a fierce exhale, a truly heart breaking, gut wrenching sound. She could hear his pain in that scream, all the harboured emotions he’d stowed away after his torture, and maybe even emotions before that. Emotions he may not have let in for a very, _very_ long time.

But it wasn’t just that. His voice almost seemed to echo, a mechanical undertone leeched into his voice, warping the scream into something else.

The lights in his cell began to flash sporadically, and Lena’s so-called impenetrable cell began to give off a dangerous low buzzing sound. A red light flashed from the tablet Lena had left on the table across the room, and Nia only barely noticed as she ran towards it. She could only stare, stunned, as everything within Brainy’s cell malfunctioned alongside his mind, screaming out just as hard as the breath being violently expelled from his chest.

When the wailing stopped, Brainy’s breath hitched, tears leaking down his face. He closed his eyes, begging with a force Nia couldn’t see.

“You can’t do this,” he pleaded. “I won’t- I will _not-”_ He whimpered, a shudder running through him. “No, no, please, _**please**!_”

“What’s happening to him?” Alex demanded, but Nia could hear the tremor in her voice.

J’onn looked very nearly ill. “The barrier in his mind is down. I can hear him again, but there are other voices, pervading his thoughts… it… must be the hivemind.”

“Hivemind,” Alex repeated bleakly. “You mean…?”

“His ancestors,” Kara said weakly.

The word was like a trigger. The war in Brainy’s mind abruptly ended. A shiver ran through him. He lifted his head, dark strands turning stark white as they settled around his face. His skin shifted from the image inducer’s perception seamlessly and, without knowing when exactly it had happened, Nia found herself faced with the Coluan beneath.

The lights on Brainy’s head glowed a fierce white.

No one said a word.

Brainy bared his teeth. He outstretched the fingers on his right hand, the only movement the cuffs would allow. Nia hissed out as the ring snapped from the chain in her hands, pulling with such force that it scratched her fingers. She watched in horror as the ring darted across the room; it hit the invisible barrier, slicing through it like it wasn’t even there, and landed solidly in Brainy’s palm.

Brainy chuckled. It was a perverse sound, infected with the robotic undertone of his ancestors. Nia felt sick. “Uh-oh,” he practically sang, a predatory grin spreading across his face. “What is the term you humans use?” His eyes narrowed. “ _Fatal_ error.”

The cuffs snapped open and Brainy stood fluidly, massaging one wrist. Nia’s chest felt tight and unmoving. Brainy made to take a step forward.

And then Lena lunged for her tablet, typing furiously against it. The cell’s lights that had all but failed suddenly glared an ugly red, and the field of the cell began to darken, growing more opaque by the second.

Brainy reviewed the cell briefly before he ducked his head, grinning broadly. He reached his arms out, clenching his hands together.

The machinery behind Lena’s back exploded. She ducked her head, grabbing for the tablet to keep it safe from the flames beginning to curl from the blast.

Kara sped towards Lena, pulling her away before the machines ignited fully. Once Lena was a safe distance away, Kara started the task of putting out the flames with her ice breath.

Brainy inspected the field in front of him curiously. He caught Nia’s eye and a malicious smile spread across his face. The opaque hue the field was developing suddenly brightened, turning back to a transparency that could rival clean glass.

Nia knew she was dangerously close to the field. She also knew that – despite what Lena had said before – now Brainy’s ancestors were running the show, there was an incredibly good chance he could override whatever security measures she’d put into this energy field. For all Nia knew, the field wasn’t even there anymore.

And she still couldn’t speak. Couldn’t find the words, couldn’t even force herself to make a noise even if she tried to. Her hands burned where she was clenching them, and she was vaguely aware of a blue pulse flickering in her peripheral. She didn’t have her costume with her, she didn’t have the luxury of crafting anything intricate with her dream energy. The power she had right now was raw and roiled and controlled entirely by her fear.

She swallowed.

“The field won’t hold,” Alex called out. Kara was still preoccupied with keeping the basement from burning down. “Lena…?”

“Working on it,” Lena gritted. She wasn’t looking at anyone, her attention was solely on her tablet. She made a vague gesture at it, eyes narrowing. “I can vault seal the cell, run a higher-powered signal to block a Coluan’s influence from getting out.” She glanced up, her expression stricken. “There’s only one problem. To activate it, the field that’s currently acting as a barrier will need to go down.”

Brainy had ducked his head again. Nia couldn’t see his expression, but she knew he was preparing for something.

“For how long?” Alex demanded.

“Less than three seconds,” Lena said.

“Crap.” Alex ran a hand through her hair. Nia could see the calculations running through her mind, the question of what the hell they could possibly do if this all went wrong. “Screw it,” Alex muttered, nodding. “Do it, Lena. Do it _now._ ”

And so she did. A low siren went off, and then the full spectrum of the field went down. Nia hadn’t realised she would be able to spy the difference, but the vague feeling of static in front of her shifted the second it disappeared.

In times of chaos, Nia had always heard people use the phrasing that it felt as though time had slowed down, or even stopped completely. She’d never felt that before, not really. When she was out in the field, she’d always had a very good sense of herself, and her adrenaline kept her fast and always in the moment.

But right now? God, it was weird, there was no other way to explain it. Despite the less than three second count down, Nia suddenly felt like she had all the time in the world.

She knew Kara was already turning her head from the commotion surrounding the fire, and with her super speed, she would definitely grab for Brainy to keep him inside the cell. The thing was, although that was a great plan in theory, Kara had never _trained_ with Brainy before.

Nia’s powers were based on precognition, and Brainy had enforced that in their training together. She knew his fight method relied on differential calculus - both similar techniques with almost identical executions. And it was because of that that Nia knew Kara’s plan was destined to fail.

She remembered how Brainy had seamlessly hacked into the network back at the warehouse, how he’d claimed that he was able to think so much clearer. If that had been him then, well, with the mindset of his ancestors to guide him, there was no telling what he was capable of now. He could easily side-step Kara, get out of the field and lock her in there in the three seconds it would take for the barrier to go down.

J’onn might go for a similar plan, and although he might have had a better success rate as a telepath, Nia didn’t think that particular ability would come in handy when Brainy’s emotions were pretty much a boiling pot of hate.

And she was _right there._ Right now, she was stood the closest to Brainy, mere inches away from him without the barrier enforcing their partition. He knew Kara would go for an attack and he knew that J’onn would, too. But what would he have accounted for with Nia? What was the likeliest probability?

She hated to admit it, but the highest chance was that she would either be too slow, or panic and throw a concentrated blast of pure dream energy right at his chest. If he had already accounted for that, then, well, she already knew it wouldn’t work.

She was tired of this. So, incredibly bone-dead exhausted of looking at someone she cared for so deeply and seeing nothing but a vague echo of who he was, maybe not even that. She didn’t want to fight him, she didn’t want to do _nothing_ either. And she was the closest to him. If she reached out right now, she could touch him.

So, she took those three seconds, and she used them.

Time sped up again, the droning pulse of her own heart died away along with it and she threw herself through the barrier that no longer existed. Right into Brainy’s arms.

He didn’t react. She hadn’t expected him to, but that was okay. Her arms wrapped around his back and she pressed her chin securely against his shoulder. And with the weight of herself and the confusion she could already feel knotting through every muscle in his body, she pushed both of them backwards, right into the direct centre of the cell.

Nia was just able to hear the shocked cries of her friends, calling desperately for her, and then the clang of metal signalled that the true barriers had dropped. The sounds of the outside world were silenced, and Nia stood there, arms locked tight around a deadly force, knowing she’d just sealed her fate.

 

* * *

 

The lights in the cell flickered before steadying. It wasn’t a particularly strong light source, but it was enough to be able to see by.

Nia’s heart beat erratically inside her chest. She was in here now. There was no getting out. She trusted Lena enough to know she wouldn’t unlock the seal just because of what Nia had done, not even if Kara and Alex fought her on the subject. This had been her choice. Now she had to see it through.

Brainy was fast. Nia felt his shoulders tense and, in the next moment, she was being forcibly extracted from him. He pushed her, grabbing fiercely at her forearms so that she was only able to take a couple of steps backwards.

His dark eyes stared at her in mixture of anger and curiosity. She’d rarely seen Brainy get mad; frustrated, sure, but never angry. Not like this. It made the hole in her chest significantly deeper.

But he was holding her arms with an unsettling amount of force. And so, Nia closed her eyes, forcing her fears to some kind of use. Her fingers sparked with blue energy, casting shadows across Brainy’s face.

“Let go of me,” she said sharply.

Brainy’s lips curled back into a sneer. He loosened his fingers enough for Nia to jerk free. She took a step backwards, holding one glowing hand out in front of her.

“Brainy,” she said, her voice lowering. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I _will_ if I have to.”

Brainy’s eyes flickered to her hand. They seemed to glimmer with something close to humour. “Is that supposed to scare me?” he asked. “You barely understand your own power. I have my ancestors to guide me.”

“There’s nowhere to go,” Nia said through gritted teeth. She knew she was trembling, but she hoped it might carry like anger more than fear. “Lena sealed us in here. The only way out is getting a hold of yourself. _Fighting_ for your control.” She took a step closer. “Brainy, I know you’re in there. Come back to me. Before you do something you’ll regret.”

Brainy’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Yes…” he said slowly, tilting his head. “Lena is an anomaly in the Luthor legacy. She is flawed by her care for others. For example, she would care very much if you were hurt.” He closed his eyes briefly. Nia’s heart sank as she watched him for any kind of clarification. Slowly, precisely, he drew his hands together. He opened his eyes. “Communications were shut down when this added layer of security was implemented. I have now reconnected that system. They can hear us, however, we will not be able to hear them in return.” He raised his voice. “Lena Luthor, you have two choices. Let me free, or the next thing you will hear will be Nia Nal’s _perilous_ screams.”

Nia’s hands brightened, nearly burning through her fingers. She lifted her other hand, holding them both out before her. “Brainy, you’re making a mistake. You’re not _thinking_ clearly. Please, you know this is wrong. You don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“Your Brainy hasn’t been in charge for quite some time,” Brainy said, and Nia could hear it, that mechanical undertone leaking back into his voice. “You are speaking to the hivemind now.”

It happened so quickly, Nia almost didn’t understand why she suddenly couldn’t see as clearly. Somehow, without even needing to do anything to make the connection, Brainy had seamlessly cut out the light sources within the cell. Every bulb went out, leaving only his interface and the steady glow of Nia’s hands as an indication to where either of them were.

Except, that wasn’t right. Because Nia was seeing more in the darkness. Multiple light sources, a trio of white in five, no, six, was that… seven? _Seven_ locations.

Nia’s stomach sank. She lifted her hands around the space, pivoting on the spot. She swore under her breath.

Holograms.

“That’s cheating,” Nia muttered.

“I see it more as a tactical advantage,” one of Brainy’s clones intoned.

And then all hell broke loose.

 

* * *

 

Nia was more than disoriented. She knew from experience that Brainy’s holograms were noncorporeal extensions of himself. He usually used them as a means of long-distance communication, but on a few occasions, he’d brought them out during training to test Nia’s predictive ability.

She’d only ever worked with three holograms, tops. Anything beyond that made it hard to concentrate on her ability. When multiple fists were coming at you at once, you didn’t have the time to figure out who was real and who wasn’t. You just had to fight.

So now there were seven Brainys, or whatever the hell he was calling himself in this disillusioned state. Maybe Brainy wasn’t the one holding the steering wheel right now, maybe he was completely tainted by the mindset of a thousand years-worth of evil, but Nia had to believe that wasn’t true. She had to believe that Brainy could take back control.

She ducked one set of fists, falling back on her right arm. She aimed her left wildly, shooting one concentrated blast of energy in any direction she could. The blast hit the chair that still stood in the cell, knocking one of the cuffs clean off. Nia winced. She really hoped Lena wouldn’t expect her to pay for that.

Realistically, Nia knew only one of the Brainys in this room was a threat, but it was impossible to detect who that was. Right now, she was being toyed with. These holograms were making slow moves, easily dodged, because of _course_ they would, they wouldn’t be able to touch anything. But it wasn’t like Nia could let them touch her, because one of them _was_ Brainy. And that version of Brainy, right now, could very easily hurt her. Maybe even try to kill her.

She hated being this grim, she hated thinking of Brainy as anyone other than the person she cared about, but this was a real-life fight. Something Brainy had warned her of.

 _It is always important to know your enemy,_ he’d told her once, _and your enemy may not always be a stranger. They could be someone you know; someone you even called a friend. You cannot allow the sense of betrayal to cloud your judgement. That is what they want of you, to hold back. But you have an advantage in that scenario, because you know them, thereby knowing how they fight. You can use that against them._

Nia wondered if Brainy had been warning her in some way. If he had always known that this was a possibility, that his ancestors might find a way out of the prison inside his head. Nia doubled down, forcing more dream energy into her hands. It burned like crazy without the gloves, and she couldn’t focus on a direct hit. She just had to narrow down her targets. She just had to hit _someone._

Another blast shot from her hand, hurdling straight through the chest of the hologram in front of her. She gritted her teeth, turning away from the harmless echo, trying to focus her energy on another.

But she’d been focusing too hard. Her dream energy wasn’t controlled in this environment and it was weighing down her agility. She hadn’t thought about a corporeal body taking the place of the hologram behind her, hadn’t accounted for the movement she couldn’t sense behind her back.

A fist struck her solidly at the base of her ribcage and she ground out a pained gasp, stumbling forwards. At the same time, she felt movement as someone side-stepped around her. Something obstructed her ankle and Nia could have sworn she heard something _pop_. In the next second, pain flooded through her leg, throbbing down to her foot. She cried out, she couldn’t help herself, as she hit the ground.

“A valiant effort, Nia Nal,” Brainy said with just a hint of humour tinging his voice. “Your power is quite remarkable, and one of the most intelligent minds has trained you well.” She felt fingers bite into her shoulder, pulling her up onto her knees. Tears stung in Nia’s eyes, but she refused to give this twisted version of Brainy the satisfaction of seeing her cry. “It is a pity that his intelligence was not a match for the unparalleled mind I now possess. You may have stood a chance were that the case.”

Nia didn’t want to scream. Didn’t want to cry out again. “Lena,” she managed, trying desperately to sound stronger than she felt. “Lena, whatever you do, _don’t_ open this cell. No matter what you hear. _Please._ ”

“You can beg your friends all you wish,” Brainy said, squeezing her shoulder so hard she felt pain strike down to her chest. “But they are weak. They will bend to my will. If it means saving you.”

Nia closed her eyes. “No,” she gritted. “They won’t. But that has nothing to do with strength or weakness. It’s just about doing what’s _right._ ”

Just when the pain in her shoulder and back was reaching a crescendo, a sudden _hiss_ from overhead caught both of them off guard. Nia felt the pain lessen as Brainy’s hand retracted.

The lights in the cell switched back on, forcing Nia to squint her eyes. There was a pause before Brainy began to laugh. It was two-tonal, metallic to its core. Nia blinked upwards in dazed confusion, trying to understand what was happening.

Then she saw it. As her vision began to clear she realised a gas was bleeding in from the ceiling, out from one of the metal panels that kept the cell locked together. She hadn’t even realised this cell was capable of that. Then again, it _was_ one of Lena’s designs.

Nia only had half a second before she realised the gas was also coming from the floor, rising towards her far too quickly. Vainly, she held her breath, knowing deep down that it would do nothing.

“Sleeping gas,” Brainy said, his tone disapproving. “How… crude.” She thought she could hear him shift next to her. “Coluans are outfitted with enhancements that can filter out a variety of toxins, including those found in sleeping gasses. A noble attempt, although, ultimately, a total failure.” Nia felt as Brainy knelt next to her. His fingers took her by the chin, lifting her head upwards.

She stared at him darkly. At the person who may have worn Brainy’s face, but was in no way the person she cared for. Despite that, she knew that the real Brainy was in there somewhere, and she was running out of time to find him. If this went any further, after what his ancestors were putting him through… he’d never want to come back from that.  

Her vision was beginning to blur. And, as she stared into Brainy’s dark eyes, she realised there was a malicious mischief set in the backs of them. He grinned at her. “Nia Nal,” he said calmly. “Shall we see what other toxic substances this cell may offer?”

Nia wasn’t sure what he was implying, not until he started listing off gases and their components, his tone rising and falling with different levels of interest as he named them individually. Nia hardly understood any of them, she could barely keep her head from lolling against her throat.

Then, Brainy’s voice heightened, doubling down as the mechanical undertone presented itself again. “ _Neuro_ toxin,” he said. “A Luthor family recipe. Fast-acting deconstruction of the cells for _any_ species. I am sure this was meant for a life or death circumstance.” He pressed his hand against the closest wall, closing his eyes. “I may not be able to connect to a frequency beyond this barrier, but what I _can_ do is affect the propulsion of the tanks unloading certain toxins. For example, did you know that under the right direction, the mechanism that unleashes this gas can be turned outwards?”

“No,” Nia ground out, reaching blindly to grab for Brainy. “You’d kill them.”

“I would infect them,” Brainy said, shrugging impassively. “The basement facility locked down automatically when the cell security engaged. I have no doubt Lena may have a cure for the neurotoxin stored down here. But the real question would be, is there enough for more than one dose?”

“Brainy,” Nia pleaded. “Stop. _Stop!_ Can’t you hear yourself!? You’re talking about _murdering_ your friends!”

“Murder is a strong word for a species that does not warrant it,” Brainy said. “Humans are primitives, Kryptonians are pompous copies if nothing more and Green Martians… they are close to extinction. It would be a pity to waste a live sample, but I am sure I can collect something of note from a corpse just as easily.”

Nia felt sick. “Brainy, this isn’t you,” she said weakly.

“No,” Brainy agreed. “I am something infinitely better.”

In that moment, Nia was sure she’d lost him. Surely, _surely_ if there was a part of him that was seeing right now, listening to the words coming from his ancestor’s hivemind, he would have reacted. She looked desperately for a flicker of recognition, for some kind of sign that the Brainy she knew was in there somewhere. But she saw nothing.

The sleeping gas would knock her out soon. A human would have already lost consciousness; she could thank her half Naltorian biology for that added level of protection. It wouldn’t last, though. Her vision was already blurring around the edges, her mind felt foggy, her thoughts unguided, spiralling.

And yet, somehow, there was something more. At first, she’d thought it was part of the sleeping gas, why else would her chest be buzzing like a thousand bees were locked inside? But then, slowly, she came to realise it was something more. It burned inside of her, moving down her arms, towards her fingers, up through her neck and into her skull.

Her vision took a new turn, and suddenly she realised what was happening.

She was… _focused._ Just, not in the way she had imagined. She wasn’t focused on the real world, on Brainy’s callous plan to poison his friends, on the submerged fears she had about what was in store for her afterwards. No, this was a different kind of focus.

This was her dream energy reaching out to her. Filling all the parts of her mind that had clouded, _using_ that to their advantage, powering the part of her brain that reacted far better in the realms of sleep.

She glanced down at her hands, unsurprised to find blue energy pulsing from every finger.

Nia knew she didn’t have time to make a plan. Besides, whatever she thought of, Brainy would be eight steps ahead. But - he couldn’t account for something she hadn’t even considered possible two seconds ago.

Nia made the decision. She visualised her power, seeing it as not just a tool, but an extension of herself, of her bloodline, of her mother. Blue energy solidified in her hand, coiling into the shape of a familiar object.

Nia ignored the stifling fire throbbing through her ankle, ignored the pinpricks of pain still lingering in her shoulders and back. In the mindset of Dreamer, none of that mattered. Here, she was the hero. And, just as Brainy had taught her, she couldn’t see him as the person she cared for, her friend, her…

_No._

Right now, he wasn’t those things. He was the enemy. Maybe that also made him the victim, but, either way, it didn’t matter.

 A true hero found a way to save everyone.

Nia cracked her lasso, the coils of blue energy lifted from the floor, just as she lifted herself from the ground. Brainy hadn’t paid her any mind, he’d been focused on the calculations to turn this cell against their friends.

He hadn’t accounted for this.

Nia smirked; just like her dreams, differential calculus only went so far.

The energy found its target easily, wrapping around Brainy’s leg and pulling it out from under him.

This wasn’t a time for theatrics, to test her abilities as a fighter. Brainy was skilled in combat, and he would make a fierce match of her. It wouldn’t matter who bested who, in the end it would work in Brainy’s advantage to kill time while the cell sprayed neurotoxins into the sealed parameter of the basement outside.

And so, Nia didn’t waste time. Brainy made a muffled sound of surprise as he lost his balance; the second he hit the floor, she took a step forward, locking her hands against his head, fingers digging sharply into his white hair.

He stared up at her, and for just a moment, she thought he might have looked afraid.

This version of him should be afraid, she considered. Right now, he may have been the villain, but the hero was still locked inside of him somewhere. All Nia had to do was find it.

 

* * *

 

Nia didn’t find herself in any one place, exactly. There was no physicality to the plain she was taken to inside of Brainy’s head.

Perhaps that was for the best.

It was a whirlpool; a vortex of flashing energy and thunderous sound.

It hurt her head to hear it. The sound was so loud, it felt numbing to her ears. It could only beat like a great drum, grating on her, trying to tear her apart.

The sound came from everywhere. It circled just like the energy, the flashes like strikes of lightning in a tumultuous storm. Nia couldn’t discern it, not fully, but every now and then she was sure she could hear something like a shout in the twisting vortex. Words thrown like knives, instructions, insults, _commands._

Nia realised with dawning horror that the twisted, tumbling clouds before her eyes, the strikes of light that slashed through the sky and the voices that rang through her head like great domed bells – all of that _was_ the hivemind.

And she was stood at the eye of the storm.

But where was Brainy? He had to be here somewhere. This entire construct was a mental projection after all, a completely fabricated image to represent the magnitude of what was happening inside his head. If the ancestors had reaped their freedom like a demon purged from Pandora’s box, then what was left of Brainy?

Boxes had been Brainy’s favourite metaphor, boxes had started this whole damned mess in the first place. If Brainy believed that the boxes had set everything free, then what was he now? What was left but an empty box?

Even in the myth, the box still had something left in it, right? An inkling of mercy… the urge to hope.

The hivemind was an unstoppable force, a constant grating factor that screamed for control with every breath. Nia wasn’t the target, and even she was beginning to feel powerless beneath its gaze.

But she wouldn’t give in. She didn’t know how much time she had here. Right now, she was just a stranger, a ghost that hadn’t yet been discovered. That could change very quickly.

So, she moved further into the storm, using the expanse of her dream abilities to source out anything that might lead her to a part of Brainy she recognised.

The rage inside of Brainy’s mind was almost too much to bear. A thousand years of stockpiled memories, personalities, _motivations…_ none of them were hers, Nia couldn’t see into the people behind this rage, but she knew deep down that that was what Brainy must be experiencing. If every Coluan was expected to be connected to their family like this, she suddenly realised why a lot of them might elect to shut out their emotions entirely. How could anyone feel all of this and not go crazy?

Then, she saw it. A glimmer of something at the heart of the storm. The focus of the voices, the flashes, the burning hatred.

It wasn’t Brainy. But it _was_ Brainy.

A tiny, palm-sized box sat on the cracked dirt. Swirling clouds like building tornadoes filled the sky, and flashes of yellow and pink sparked through the surface of the air around it, and Nia knew.

She knew this was Brainy. The _real_ Brainy, not the faces he’d worn on the outside, not the uncaring mask or the hateful imposter. This was the Brainy she’d met all those months ago at the pizza place, the Brainy she had defended, had fought with, had laughed with, had… had…

His screams still echoed in her ears, mingling with the voices yelling from the sky, carried along on a robotic undercurrent.

This place was a metaphor. She had to remember that.

Nia ignored the storm, ignored the pain inside her head. None of it was real and none of it could hurt her. She was by no means an expert of the dreamscape, but this was her domain way more than it was an evil hivemind’s. This was the darkest part of Brainy’s mind. He didn’t deserve to be here.

And so, Nia scooped the box into hands that weren’t quite real. Lighting sparked overhead, scorching the ground by her feet, but Nia was beyond caring. It was useless being afraid of something that couldn’t hurt her.

And she hoped Brainy might understand that as well.

The box pulsed in her hands. Small and frightened and sparking with a pale blue light.

“It’s okay,” Nia said softly. “Nothing can hurt you here, not anymore.” The box calmed, stilling between her fingers. She could still feel it, though, an erratic thrum, a deep-seated dread of what came next.

“I’ll be there with you,” Nia said. She closed her eyes. “Come on, Brainy. It’s time to come home.”

 

* * *

 

Nia felt an invisible tug against her chest as she extracted herself from Brainy’s mind. Her hands were still tightly locked into his hair, but at some point, the pain in her ankle must have been too much and she’d sunk to her knees, because they were both knelt on the floor together.

Brainy’s eyes snapped open; his chest heaved once, so violently that Nia thought he would choke. Instead, he sucked air through his teeth, and his dark eyes shimmered, collecting with tears.

Nia’s heart broke. As relieved as she was to see Brainy’s face alive with an expression that was truly _his,_ she knew what he’d just witnessed, the things that he must be remembering now he was back in control.

His expression was open, raw, and Nia could see in his chest that he was suddenly struggling to breathe. His eyes darted from her face, staring blankly at the metal walls, then to the chair with the broken harness.

For a moment, his gaze was lost entirely, and a far-off haze overcame his expression.

Nia’s heart leapt into her throat. “No,” she said sharply. She slid her fingers from his hair, cupping his face. “Don’t you dare, don’t you _dare_ go back. Stay here. Please.”

Brainy’s gaze fluttered. She could see the confusion in the backs of his eyes, the barely restrained pain that he was still trying to muddle through. Shutting it out would be just as easy now as it had been when he’d been tortured, and even though there were no electric currents running through his internal systems, Nia didn’t doubt he could still switch off in this fragile state.

But she couldn’t lose him again.

“Hey,” she said, softer this time. Her nails bit against his face. “I know it hurts, but please don’t run from it. Stay with me. We can fix this, okay? We _will_ fix this.”

Brainy stared at her. His chest hitched and fell far too quickly, and a shudder ran up his spine. Tears collected in his eyes, spilling down his face. The first sob of many broke from his throat.

Nia ran her hands down Brainy’s face, wrapping her arms around his back. He was stiff, confused, but he didn’t fight against the contact, if anything, Nia thought he needed it. A lot more than he realised, especially right now. He didn’t move his arms from his sides, but as another sob heaved from his chest, he pressed his face into her shoulder. Moisture instantly bled into her shirt, and Nia closed her eyes, tightening her hold around Brainy’s back.

He shuddered again, and a groan caught in his throat. “N-no,” he stammered, and Nia heard it, a robotic shift beneath his voice, mechanising his vocal cords. “I- t-they won’t _stop screaming_.”

He pushed himself from Nia suddenly, startling her without being forceful. He pressed one hand through his white hair, eyes scrunched with pain. He bent in over himself, groaning out. “They’re still there, t-they won’t… they will not leave me alone.” He shook his head, more tears tumbling down his face. “I won’t. I won’t. I _won’t._ ”

Nia had never seen Brainy this frantic before, with this much pain twisting his expression. He was terrified, and it was clear that the storm she’d seen inside his mind was still swirling, calling to him to join their forces.

Nia’s heart hammered in her chest. She grabbed for Brainy’s arm, pulling him close. “Listen to my voice,” she said sharply. “Breathe with me. They are not in control. _You_ are. You chose not to be like your ancestors, Brainy. Make that choice again. Right here, right now.”

Brainy groaned out, a wounded and heart-breaking sound. He curled further in on himself, hands digging desperately into his scalp. “I can’t,” he said weakly. “The boxes…”

“The boxes don’t matter,” Nia said. “You didn’t have them before, you don’t need them now. Push the voices back.” Carefully, she uncurled Brainy’s fingers from his hair, bringing his hands down towards her. “I’m right here,” she said. “Please, Brainy. I know you can do this.”

Brainy sucked in another breath, and Nia squeezed his fingers, trying to force a rhythm into the action that might urge his breathing to follow suit.

Brainy closed his eyes, bowing his head. Slowly, the ragged hitches of his chest evened out, and, with it, the pain in Brainy’s expression slowly began to fade. A focused calm set into his expression and he squeezed Nia’s hands intermittently, not quite in the beat she’d created, but enough to know that he was still with her. That he hadn’t slipped.

Finally, he drew out a long, shaky breath. His lips trembled, and he bared his teeth in a pained grimace. Nia knew, though, that this pain wasn’t his ancestors fighting back. She was almost certain he’d reined them in. No, in a way this would be worse.

Brainy sobbed, his shoulders hunched together as the tears began to fall once more. His white hair slipped forward, sticking to his cheeks and jaw as the crying fit intensified.

“It’s okay,” Nia said softly. She wound her arms around Brainy again, but he barely seemed to notice her. “You’re back now.”

“N-no,” Brainy said shakily, his voice choked and low. He shook his head once, pulling himself from Nia’s grip. His hand found his Legion ring, but the moment his fingers touched it, Nia saw something flash in the backs of his eyes. His blue skin paled, his hand falling slack. “No,” he repeated, moving to stand fully. “Your ankle… I…” he drew off, eyes darting ahead of himself as more memories dawned on him. “The cell… I would have… I was going to _kill…_ ” Brainy looked like he might vomit. Instead, he turned sharply away, hands clenching and unclenching uselessly in front of him. “I’m s-sorry, I-I am so, so sorry, I… I could never expect you to forgive me, to, to…” Nia couldn’t see Brainy’s face from this angle, but it was clear that he was crying again, just as hard as before. “I should _never_ have come to this century.”

Nia gaped at him. “No,” she said. “Brainy, no, no don’t you ever say that.” She made a move to stand, to grab for him, but she’d forgotten about her ankle. The moment she put pressure on it, her entire leg seized with pain. She hissed out, collapsing back onto her knees.

Brainy turned to her; if it was possible, he looked even paler, nauseated with what he had done to her. He was skittish, exhausted energy practically exuded from him. He was ready to run the second the barrier dropped.

Which was why it hadn’t. Lena and Kara and Alex and J’onn… they would have heard Brainy come back, they would know he was safe. If the walls were still up, well, Nia had pretty good reason to know why that would be.

She collected herself, gritting her teeth behind the pain. “Relax,” she said smoothly. “It’s not broken. Just sprained, I think. He didn’t, _you_ didn’t hurt me.” Nia paused, trying desperately to reach out to him somehow, without being able to _physically_ reach him. “Brainy, I don’t blame you for what happened. No one here _blames_ you. You were tortured and terrified and you are not to blame because your ancestors got free.” She laughed shakily. “I don’t know how any of this works, but I don’t care. What happened was _not_ your fault.”

“But it was,” Brainy said weakly. He wouldn’t look her directly in the eye.

Nia sighed. “Sure,” she said, shrugging. “Maybe if you’d told us about this sooner, we could have been prepared in some way. Maybe we might have known what to look out for… we could have stopped you from slipping so far.” She swallowed thickly. “I want you to feel comfortable sharing this stuff with us, that you _can_. We’re your family.” She softened, reaching out for the wall. Carefully, with half her weight against the metal panel, Nia managed to stand in a somewhat decent upright position, the weight of her carried on her uninjured foot. When she was confident enough, she let go of the wall, folding her arms. “I know in your past… you didn’t always feel like you could share stuff like this, that people might judge you without even knowing you.” She pursed her lips, trying desperately to catch his gaze. “Brainy, we would never judge you. I want you to know that. Whatever you think you’re keeping safe by hiding from us, that’s not true. We will always be stronger together.”

A bitter smile tugged at Brainy’s lips, but at least it was enough to draw his gaze to hers. Nia’s stomach clenched. “How can you say that?” he asked exhaustedly. “After all that I did…”

“Your ancestors did that,” Nia said, with no room for argument. “Not you.”

Brainy’s jaw tensed, and he rolled his shoulders, ruffled by her response. “You have to understand,” he said weakly. “My ancestors are a part of me. Any actions they carry out through me are extensions of my bloodline. That makes them my actions, my sins to bear.”

“You’re wrong,” Nia said. Brainy blinked at that. She shrugged simply. “Nothing is just yours to bear. Not when you have us.” She heard a sound from the metal wall, a soft whirr as the locks disengaged. She smiled softly. “Brainy, we’ve all done things we’re not proud of, but you weren’t in control of what you did, so we aren’t going to blame you for it.” As she spoke, Nia could hear the walls as they slid back into the floor. By the time she was finished, the walls had disappeared entirely, leaving them fully exposed in the centre of the basement. Nia glanced outwards, nodding silently towards Lena who smiled briefly in response. “Right, guys?”

Brainy started at the sight of everyone else. His eyes glistened with fresh tears, his body tensing, as though waiting for some kind of horrible punishment.

Nia knew that would never come.

“Brainy,” Lena said. She was the first to speak, unsurprisingly. She walked towards the cell, stepping through the barrier where the electric field used to be with the confidence of the scientist who had designed it in the first place. She looked at him up and down, and Nia could see the worry that lingered in the backs of her eyes. She reached out a hand, placing it tentatively on his shoulder. Brainy tensed, but didn’t shrug her off. Lena sighed. “As the poster child for someone trying to outrun her evil family, I think it goes without saying that I would never blame you for this.” She tilted her head. “We could all do with sharing a little more about ourselves. I think it’s well overdue that we do that, together. Although I may need a few drinks to get the ball rolling.”

Brainy stared at her blankly. “Lena,” he began.

“You don’t have to apologise,” Lena said carefully, squeezing his shoulder. “I think you’ve done enough of that over the speaker.” She narrowed her eyes. “Also, for future reference, I have three doses of antitoxin stashed in this basement. I doubt your ancestors would have succeeded in killing us. An interesting play, though, I’ll have to make note of it for future designs.”

Nia snorted. She couldn’t help herself. Only Lena Luthor would see the educational side of nearly being poisoned by one of her friends.

“Brainy?”

Nia turned, realising that Alex and Kara were watching from the side lines. They both seemed wary, but mostly concerned.

Lena smiled tightly, taking a step to the side to allow Alex to come forward. Nia held her breath, not quite certain how Alex would respond. She’d been so worried since this had started, but Nia hadn’t known how her friends had reacted when the barriers had gone up, when Brainy had used her as leverage to get out by any means necessary. What must have been running through their minds?

Alex bit her lip. Before he had time to react, she took Brainy by the shoulders and pressed a kiss against his forehead, just above his interface, before pulling him into her arms. He was still tense all over, but enough of him softened to allow the contact to happen without quite responding to it. Nia saw a tremor run through him as more tears spilled down his face.

“You scared the hell out of me,” Alex said softly. “I’m glad you’re back, but Brainy, don’t you dare think you need to keep any part of yourself secret from us. The more we know, the more we can do to help you.” She squeezed him tight, and Nia watched with a smile as Brainy lifted one arm half heartedly to touch Alex’s back. He pulled away after only a second, but it was progress.

“Hey, don’t hog the moment,” Kara said. Her smile was slightly pained, but Alex managed a laugh, pulling away from Brainy who still looked both parts dazed and stricken.

“Brainy?” Kara asked tentatively. Her approach wasn’t quite as forward as her sister’s. Instead, she offered one of her warmest smiles, folding her hands in front of her. “I know you’re probably feeling pretty out of it right now, I, well, I kinda felt similarly after I got infected with red kryptonite. You’re not the first person to be affected by a force that you couldn’t control. I just…” She made a face, searching for the right words. “I just don’t want you to feel like you did something wrong for not being able to find yourself on your own. Sometimes our biggest strengths come from our family. We’re here to help you, no matter what.”

Brainy’s lip trembled. He shook his head, wiping his face with the back of his hand. He was still so shaken, and Nia wasn’t sure how he was responding from all of this attention. He needed his friends, but the vulnerability she’d seen play in his eyes when she’d been alone with him reminded her that he was fragile right now. The emotions he was experiencing weren’t just painful, after being hidden away for so long, they might as well have been brand new to his system.

J’onn seemed to feel this too, because he moved between Kara and Alex, taking them each by the shoulder. “Perhaps we should give him a little breathing room?” he suggested gently.

Kara and Alex didn’t seem happy about it, but they each took a few steps back, allowing J’onn room to move forward.

“Brainy, what you have been through…” J’onn began. “If there is anything you would like for me to do…”

Nia’s heart clenched. She knew what J’onn was referring to, perhaps even before Brainy did.

Brainy swallowed thickly. He shook his head stiffly. “Blocking memories,” he said quietly, his voice still cracked. “That sounds a lot like hiding one’s emotions, wouldn’t you agree?”

J’onn’s eyes warmed with a smile. “I did hope you would say that.”

Brainy made a choked sound, it wasn’t quite a laugh, but it was enough to ease some of the tension in the room. “I am sorry,” he said, looking to each of his friends. His gaze lingered on Nia for a beat longer before he drew away. “I do not understand how you are all… still here.”

“Family don’t give up on family,” Kara said firmly. She took Brainy’s shoulder. “You weren’t yourself, Brainy, we can move past that. For us, that’s the easy part.” Her expression drew into a frown. “The hard part is coming to terms with it for yourself.”

Nia’s throat closed up. Kara spoke from experience. Half of the room could say the same. Brainy wasn’t just in the company of people who were understanding, they had walked the same path as him. Maybe under different circumstances, but did that really matter when the end result was always the same? Hurting the people you cared about under the influence of an uncontrollable factor.

Brainy wrapped his arms around his chest. He sniffed, wiping a hand across his face. “I think that may take some time.”

Kara’s expression was full of understanding. “And that’s okay. We can help you get there.”

A little of the tension lifted from Brainy’s shoulders, and in that moment Kara wrapped her arms around him. That, in turn, became everyone’s cue for a group hug. As Nia felt everyone surge forward, she quickly found a spot by Brainy’s shoulder. She pushed herself close, pressing her face against the crook of his neck, balancing precariously on her uninjured foot. She felt J’onn’s arms around her back, could smell Lena’s perfume and could see Alex on her other side. She felt another tremor run through Brainy and she reached up instinctively, brushing the tears from his face.

She closed her eyes, squeezing tightly against his arm. In that moment, nothing further needed to be said. Besides, all the words in the world couldn’t replicate the love found at the centre of a group hug.

 

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

Nia watched from across the room as Alex checked Brainy over. He was sat on one of the tables furthest from the destroyed machinery; Alex stood in front of him, arms crossed, asking him standard medical questions that had been slightly altered to fit his personal biology.

Nia overheard Brainy mentioning something about needing to recalibrate a few processes in his internal systems, but overall shrugged off most of the questions as inconsequential or unnecessary. She had to keep from smiling.

“Didn’t Alex ask you to keep that elevated?”

Nia nearly jumped out of her skin. She glanced over to find Lena watching her, a knowing smile on her face.

“Uh,” Nia said, because all words had been completely lost on her. It couldn’t have been clearer that she’d been caught staring fondly over at Brainy. And completely ignoring the medical advice of one of her friends in the process.

She lifted her leg over the chair opposite to the one she was sat on. “There,” she said. “It’s elevated.”

“Mhm,” Lena said, still smiling. She lifted the ice pack in her hand. “Alex asked me to get you one of these from the first aid kit. Don’t say I never do anything for you.”

“Are you kidding?” Nia asked, hissing out in relief as Lena placed the pack across her ankle. The pain had dulled a little, but she knew it was starting to swell. “Without your help, we would have been totally screwed.”

Lena chuckled darkly. “I suppose.”

Nia pursed her lips. “Thank you, by the way, for not listening to Brainy when he was…” she drew off. “When he threatened me. It was the right call.”

“It… wasn’t easy,” Lena said, folding her arms. “None of us knew exactly what he would be capable of in that state. Alex wanted me to relent, Kara believed in you, but we were all terrified.”

“Did you think the sleeping gas wouldn’t work?” Nia asked, raising a brow.

“On Brainy?” Lena asked, her lips quirking slyly. “I knew enough of his systems from the x-rays to get a pretty good idea. I also knew that he’d be too focused on himself to realise that we might have been using a different play.” She nodded minutely. “To use the gas on you.”

Nia blinked in surprise. Her chest tightened with unfamiliar heat. “I…” Her throat closed up. “You couldn’t have known it would help my focus,” she said slowly. “Even I didn’t know it would do that.”

“It was an educated guess,” Lena said with a shrug. “I make a point of studying my powered friends. Sometimes you need an outside perspective to point out things in yourself you might never notice on your own.”

Nia squinted at her. “But did you actually _know_ it would work or…”

“Oh no, it was a shot in the dark at best.”

A hysterical laugh bubbled from Nia’s throat. She shook her head. “Wow.”

Lena bumped her shoulder. “I’m glad it worked. We all knew you had it in you to bring him back.” She glanced behind herself. “He cares about you a lot. Before everything got out of hand, there was something he wanted to tell you.”

Nia’s heart clenched. A tingling warmth settled inside her stomach. “Maybe right now isn’t the best time. After what he’s been through.”

“Maybe,” Lena said thoughtfully. “But either way, I think you should talk to him. It looks like you both want to.”

Nia frowned at her, then looked back towards Brainy and Alex. Except, Alex wasn’t there anymore, and instead, her eyes met Brainy’s head on.

She felt a blush creep across her face. She coughed awkwardly, glancing away.

Lena chuckled. “It’s just a suggestion,” she said with a wink, before turning away to join Kara by the elevator.

 

* * *

 

Yeah, sure, go talk to Brainy. Hah. Easier said than done.

Nia weighed her options. Brainy had his eyes closed, his head bowed slightly. He’d altered his appearance with his inducer, likely in preparation for when he eventually felt comfortable coming back up to civilisation. Nia figured he was doing what he’d explained to Alex, fixing whatever internal mechanisms that might have gone askew after his ancestors took over, probably fortifying whatever countermeasures he had to ensure they never got out again.

He didn’t look like he was in pain. His expression was calm, his fingers curled softly around the table edge. Seeing him like that, it was almost too easy to forget what had happened to him not half an hour ago. But it had happened, and Nia knew that it was weighing on him.

She should talk to him. She reviewed her ankle, still propped up on the chair. Everyone else had gone upstairs and, although Kara had offered to help Nia to the elevator, she’d declined. The look on Kara’s face told Nia that everyone in the room seemed to know that Brainy had wanted to talk to her. But no one would tell her _why._

She thought she knew why. She _hoped_ she knew why. Was that selfish? To hope after everything he’d been through?

Tentatively, she lifted her leg from the chair, placing it on the ground. Okay, so far so good. It only hurt a little bit.

Trying to stand, Nia realised a little too late, was _not_ a good idea.

Pain spiked through her leg, and she stifled a yelp, falling back into her seat. She gritted her teeth, riding out the pain as it dulled back to a low throb.

“Nia?”

Nia started. She glanced towards Brainy, staring at him blankly. At some point between trying to stand and blinding pain, he’d walked over to her. He stood by her now, one hand outstretched, as though to touch her, but it was like there was a barrier in the way, just like when he’d been in the cell. He hesitated before lowering his hand. Nia’s heart sank.

Brainy’s eyes darted away for a moment before he glanced back towards her. He seemed more nervous than he had been before, and she realised that despite the restless energy in his hands, he wasn’t making a grab for his Legion ring as much.

“You should not be trying to walk so soon,” Brainy said finally.

Nia forced a smile. “Yeah, Alex told me the same thing.”

Brainy reached for the ice pack that had slipped from her leg. Nia watched as he placed it gently over her ankle. His fingers brushed against her skin, an accidental gesture, but she couldn’t ignore the spark of something that was definitely not pain that permeated there as a result.

Brainy straightened. He looked lost stood there, like he wasn’t sure what to do next.

“How are you feeling?” she asked softly.

Brainy’s eyes darted to the floor. His hands clenched uselessly. “That is… a hard question to answer,” he muttered.

“It’s okay if you can’t,” Nia said. “More than okay, actually. It was stupid of me to ask. It’s kinda self-explanatory, like asking how my ankle is.”

Brainy’s gaze shot towards her. “Yes,” he said. “How _is_ your ankle?”

Nia snorted. She shook her head. “Not broken. Alex says it’s a pretty bad sprain, but I’ll be fine. Just gotta keep off my feet for a couple of days. No big deal.”

Brainy stared at her seriously. “It is a very big deal.”

Nia sighed. “No, Brainy, it’s not. Not for me.” She shifted awkwardly, trying to keep his gaze from wandering. “Look. I wanted to talk to you about something. And I don’t know if it’s the right time, but after everything…” She closed her eyes. She was rambling. She shouldn’t be rambling. “If you don’t want to answer, that’s fine, but, do you remember what I said to you before… before your ancestors took over?”

Brainy swallowed. “I was not myself then, either,” he said lowly. “But I do remember.”

Nia frowned. His expression was grave, not quite like how she’d imagined when bringing up the fact that she’d said the _L_ word. To his face. Her throat suddenly felt tight. Maybe she’d overstepped a boundary after all. She shook her head. “Okay,” she said slowly. “So, about that…”

“It’s alright,” Brainy said softly. “If you did not mean to say it, or if you have changed your mind, I would understand.”

Nia gaped at him. “What?” Her heart suddenly felt ten times faster in her chest. “No. No, Brainy, no that is _not_ what I was going to say. At all.”

Brainy looked up at her uncertainly. His hand reached for his ring unthinkingly. “You… you weren’t?”

“Of course not! Brainy, I didn’t want to tell you at that point because it felt like I wasn’t telling the real you. Well, actually, I really _wasn’t_ telling the real you. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t mean it, that I didn’t _want_ to say it.”

Brainy was still watching her like he wasn’t quite understanding what she was saying. “Nia,” he said, almost experimentally. “I do not want you to feel pressured into telling me anything because of what has occurred tonight. I- I know that you may have come to terms with what I said and did, but that does not mean you should feel rushed into saying something you might later regret. If you wish to take some time to think this through, I would-”

Nia rolled her eyes, reaching her hand towards him. “Brainy?”

“Yes?”

“Shut up.”

He was just close enough that she was able to grab his shirt. She yanked at the material gently, urging him towards her. Confusion was written over Brainy’s expression, but he bent towards her, unsure what else he could do. Nia propped herself against the chair, pushing herself awkwardly so that she could reach for him, winding her arms around his shoulders. It was only when their faces were inches apart that Nia saw realisation light in Brainy’s eyes.

She grinned, pressing her lips against his. Brainy was slow on the uptake, but he soon began to kiss back; his hands fell away from their nervous gestures, instead reaching for her shoulders, running his hands down her arms. Warmth flooded across Nia’s skin, and she intensified the kiss, locking her hands behind Brainy’s neck, fingers tugging at his dark hair.

When they eventually parted, Nia’s heart was beating rapidly. She laughed, pressing her forehead against Brainy’s. She could hear his breath, hard and fast in his chest. A part of her wanted to kiss him again, but she knew he was still fragile, and so she kept her face where it was, lowering her hands to find better purchase around his back.

“I love you,” she said, closing her eyes.

Brainy’s hands squeezed against her arms. “I love you, too.” He sighed restlessly. “I had meant to say it before, I _wanted_ to tell you back at the warehouse, but I never did… and then I was not myself and…” His chest hitched.

“Hey,” Nia said. “Don’t. Don’t do that to yourself.” She pressed a kiss against his cheek, digging her fingers against his back.

Brainy pulled away slightly. He ran a hand beneath his eyes, brushing away the tears that had collected there.

He didn’t back away and so Nia felt it safe to take his arm. She looked up at him curiously. “Do you want to stay at my place tonight?”

Brainy’s expression shifted. He stared at her unsurely, a murmur of panic in his eyes.

Nia’s eyes widened. A blush flooded across her cheeks. “Wait, I didn’t… I didn’t mean it like _that_. I mean, not that I wouldn’t _want_ to, but… I just, I don’t want you to be alone tonight. And I would prefer if you were with me. So that I can keep an eye on you, that is. God, that sounded way better in my head.” She cringed, her shoulders tensing. “Look. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

Brainy smiled, though it faded quickly. “I don’t want to be a burden to you.”

Nia shook her head. “You could never be a burden. If anything, I’ll be the burden, because I still can’t walk.”

Brainy tensed and Nia silently cursed herself for doing it again. Casually throwing around joking remarks about her ankle like it was no big deal. She wanted to reinforce that to him, to ensure that she wasn’t upset or hurt about it, but the wound was still fresh, she couldn’t push him if he wasn’t ready.

Instead, the tension passed, and Brainy lifted his hand, looking at his ring properly for the first time since the cell. He smiled again, and this time Nia was sure it reached his eyes. “I believe I can assist with that.”

Nia stared at the ring, then at Brainy. “I mean, Alex was gonna give me a ride,” she said numbly, then raised her hands. “But… yes. I mean, yeah that’d be awesome.”

Nia had only flown a couple of times, and usually they were high stakes situations that meant she was pretty much just knocking hair out her face and trying not to freak out at how fast they were going the whole time. Something about the look in Brainy’s eyes told her that his offer wasn’t going to be nearly as chaotic as those times. It left a fluttery feeling inside her stomach just thinking about it.

She ran her hand down his arm, linking her fingers with his. “Are you ready to go upstairs?”

Brainy considered something a moment before nodding. “I believe so.”

“Alright,” Nia said, smirking. “Then, help me up. If I put any more pressure on this injury, Alex is gonna have an aneurism.”

Brainy laughed at that. It was an easy laugh, not strained or insincere, and Nia’s heart flooded with warmth to hear it.

As Brainy helped her onto her feet, Nia wrapped her arm around him, pressing her face against his shoulder. He was still shaken, but the nervous energy inside of him had dissipated since the kiss.

Nia knew Brainy was in a bad place, and she knew that getting out of that place wasn’t as easy as declaring one’s feelings for another. Alex had already mentioned that Kelly had offered to help Brainy if he needed it, and Nia was once again reminded how fortunate they all were to have found one another. A group of aliens and humans alike, all with so much care for one another, so much _love._

They were a family. No one would break them apart, especially not the darkness inside of themselves. If anything, the darkness should be afraid. Nia was certain Brainy’s ancestors damned-well should be.

But that didn’t matter right now. As they made their way back up towards civilisation in Lena’s spacious company elevator, Nia felt as Brainy’s arm strengthened around her and, without really thinking about it, he pressed his lips against her hair. Nia's body trilled from that contact and she slipped her own arm around his back, squeezing tight.

They’d face the world together. From here on out, that was a promise neither one of them was willing to break.


End file.
